Tag: psychopathy

Categories : NeurologyTags :

Scientists Discover a Difference in Brains of Psychopathic Individuals

On By ModernMedia
Brain scan image
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Neuroscientists report in the Journal of Psychiatric Research that they have discovered a biological difference between psychopaths and non-psychopaths.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, they found that a region of the forebrain known as the striatum was on average 10% larger in psychopathic individuals compared to a control group of individuals with low or no psychopathic traits.

Psychopaths, or those with psychopathic traits, are generally defined as individuals that have an egocentric and antisocial personality. It is a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioural controls, commonly resulting in persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behaviour. Accumulating research suggests that psychopathy follows a developmental trajectory with strong genetic influences, and which precipitates deleterious effects on widespread functional networks, particularly within paralimbic regions of the brain.

The striatum, which is a part of the forebrain, the subcortical region of the brain that contains the entire cerebrum, coordinates multiple aspects of cognition, including both motor and action planning, decision-making, motivation, reinforcement, and reward perception.

Previous studies had indicated an overly active striatum in psychopaths but had not conclusively determined the impact of its size on behaviours. The new study reveals a significant biological difference between people who have psychopathic traits and those who do not.

A better understanding of the role of biology in antisocial and criminal behaviour may help improve existing theories of behaviour, as well as inform policy and treatment.

Source: Nanyang Technical University

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Teens at Risk of Psychopathy Struggle with Moral Judgments

On By ModernMedia

Teenagers with high levels of callous-unemotional traits demonstrate lower levels of anticipated guilt towards the possibility of committing an immoral act and struggle to judge an immoral act as a wrong one.

In the study, researchers examined the callous traits, ie the lack of empathy and disregard for the wellbeing and feelings of others, of 47 adolescents from the Portuguese Population between 15 and 18 years old. The adolescent participants viewed video animations portraying examples of moral transgressions, such as incriminating someone or keeping money that fell from someone else’s pocket. “This approach allowed us to create more realistic scenarios that happen in daily life,” explained Oscar Gonçalves, a neuroscientist at Proaction Lab and co-author of the study. 
The participants were asked how guilty they would feel if they were the ones to commit the moral transgressions and how unethical they felt those actions to be.

The study results differ from what is known about psychopaths, despite the callous-unemotional traits in adolescents being known to be precursors of psychopathy in adulthood. “Adults with psychopathic traits show low levels of anticipated guilt but consider immoral actions as wrong. However, in our study, adolescents with high CU levels show levels of guilt and judge immoral actions as less wrong,” explained first author Margarida Vasconcelos.

But evidence was found of a dissociation between moral emotions and moral judgment, that is, between the feelings of guilt and the judgment of immoral actions. “Even in adolescents with sub-clinical levels of callous-unemotional traits, this dissociation typical in psychopathy in adulthood is already happening during development,” explained study coordinator Ana Seara Cardoso.

The study’s results will “contribute to the development of a severe anti-social behavior model” and allow the “development of intervention targets, rehabilitation and early prevention of anti-social behavior,” said Cardoso.

Source: Medical Xpress